# 如履薄冰
## Chinese

| | | as (if); such as | shoe; to tread on | thin; slight; meagrethin; slight; meagre; small; ungenerous; unkind; mean; frivolous; despise; belittle; to approach; to go near; peppermint | ice |
| trad. (如履薄冰) | trad. (如履薄冰) | 如 | 履 | 薄 | 冰 |
| simp. $^#$(如履薄冰) | simp. $^#$(如履薄冰) | 如 | 履 | 薄 | 冰 |
| Literally: “like treading on thin ice”. ||||||

### Etymology

See 戰戰兢兢／战战兢兢 (zhànzhànjīngjīng).

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): rúlǚbóbīng
    (Zhuyin): ㄖㄨˊ ㄌㄩˇ ㄅㄛˊ ㄅㄧㄥ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): jyu$^4$ lei$^5$ bok$^6$ bing$^1$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: rúlǚbóbīng
*** Zhuyin: ㄖㄨˊ ㄌㄩˇ ㄅㄛˊ ㄅㄧㄥ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: rúlyǔbóbing
*** Wade–Giles: ju$^2$-lü$^3$-po$^2$-ping$^1$
*** Yale: rú-lyǔ-bwó-bīng
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ruleuborbing
*** Palladius: жулюйбобин (žuljujbobin)
*** Sinological IPA : /ʐu³⁵ ly²¹⁴⁻²¹ pu̯ɔ³⁵ piŋ⁵⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: jyu$^4$ lei$^5$ bok$^6$ bing$^1$
*** Yale: yùh léih bohk bīng
*** Cantonese Pinyin: jy$^4$ lei$^5$ bok$^9$ bing$^1$
*** Guangdong Romanization: yu$^4$ léi$^5$ bog$^6$ bing$^1$
*** Sinological IPA : /jyː²¹ lei̯¹³ pɔːk̚² pɪŋ⁵⁵/
* Middle Chinese: nyo lijX bak ping
Rime :
| Character | 如 | 履 | 薄 | 冰 |
| Reading # | 1/2 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 日 (38) | 來 (37) | 並 (3) | 幫 (1) |
| Final (韻) | 魚 (22) | 脂 (15) | 鐸 (104) | 蒸 (133) |
| Tone (調) | Level (Ø) | Rising (X) | Checked (Ø) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Open | Closed | Open |
| Division (等) | III | III | I | III |
| Fanqie | 人諸切 | 力几切 | 傍各切 | 筆陵切 |
| Baxter | nyo | lijX | bak | ping |
| Reconstructions |||||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /ȵɨʌ/ | /liɪ$^X$/ | /bwɑk̚/ | /pɨŋ/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /ȵiɔ/ | /li$^X$/ | /bʷɑk̚/ | /pɨŋ/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /ȵʑiɔ/ | /ljɪ$^X$/ | /buɑk̚/ | /pieŋ/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /ȵɨə̆/ | /li$^X$/ | /bwak̚/ | /piŋ/ |
| Li Rong | /ȵiɔ/ | /li$^X$/ | /buɑk̚/ | /piəŋ/ |
| Wang Li | /ȵʑĭo/ | /li$^X$/ | /buɑk̚/ | /pĭəŋ/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /ȵʑi̯wo/ | /li$^X$/ | /bʱwɑk̚/ | /pi̯əŋ/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | rú | lǐ | bó | bīng |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | jyu$^4$ | lei$^5$ | bok$^6$ | bing$^1$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*na [r]ijʔ [b]ˤak p.rəŋ/
    (Zhengzhang): /*nja riʔ baːɡ pŋrɯŋ|ŋrɯŋ/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 如 | 履 | 薄 | 冰 |
| Reading # | 2/2 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | rú | lǚ | bó | bīng |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ nyo › | ‹ lij$^X$ › | ‹ bak › | ‹ ping › |
| Old Chinese | /*na/ | /*[r]ijʔ/ | /*[b]ˁak/ | /*p.rəŋ/ (dialect: *p.r- > *pr-) |
| English | as, like, if | tread on; sandal | thin | ice |
| Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary. |||||
Zhengzhang system (2003) :
| Character | 如 | 履 | 薄 | 冰 | 冰 |
| Reading # | 1/2 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/2 | 2/2 |
| No. | 9623 | 8603 | 3487 | 856 | 860 |
| Phonetic component | 女 | 履 | 甫 | 仌 | 仌 |
| Rime group | 魚 | 脂 | 鐸 | 蒸 | 蒸 |
| Rime subdivision | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 如 | 履 | 泊 | 冫 | 凝 |
| Old Chinese | /*nja/ | /*riʔ/ | /*baːɡ/ | /*pŋrɯŋ/ | /*ŋrɯŋ/ |
| Notes | | 說文一曰屍聲， 甲文爲眉聲 | | | 筆陵切注又切 |

### Idiom

如履薄冰
* (figurative) in a careful manner; acting with extreme caution; like skating on thin ice